June 2004 A R C H I V E S

The Martian Ambassador, from "Mars Attacks", Copyright 1996 Warner Bros.

The contrariness of suppressing speech.

Or, where, exactly, is the censorship?

MSNBC's "Hardball" featured the visits yesterday and today, respectively, by Mr. Peter Bart ("V.P. and Editor-in-Chief of 'VARIETY'") and Mr. Peter Guber ("Producer and Lecturer at UCLA"), and the prominent point that both of these two persons made was that the 'criticism' of Michael Moore's "F:9/11" was the 'problem' with the film's success, or, to rephrase, that because there's been criticism of what Moore's done with this latest missive, that it's enduced success for Moore's missive.

"...it was the opposition that fueled the viability of this product," said Peter Guber earlier today during his guest appearance on MSNBC.

Peter Bart took a while longer, during his guest appearance yesterday on MSNBC, to make that same point as did Guber, but, offensively, Bart drew parallels between Moore's missive and Mel Gibson's, "The Passion of the Christ," due to more-or-less, the "opposition...fuels the viability" strategic conclusion that Guber expressed today.

I write, "offensively," because Bart continued on to say that "(he) (thought) that Moore and Mel Gibson should get together for a drink." Not like Bart isn't aware of his barb there, and his body language revealed the low ball comment to be decidedly not funny, despite Bart's snickering to the contrary. Bart's character on film, albeit televised, yesterday, was uncomfortable to behold, as was Guber's today. I've watched the both of them and many times over, on television, on film, and have yet to see and/or hear either of them as near to breaking out in a snarl as I did today and yesterday -- something about 'the-criticism'-being-the-cause-of-Moore's-success' approached subliminal advertising.

For two people enamored by the necessity to create with filmed footage -- which is a great thing -- they both appeared to instruct by the deflective suggestion that criticism is the bad guy, and, suggest by implication that to criticise is to be the problem. As in, "objection [equals] wrong," the appeal of suppression. The thing is, however, that that also cancels out the very criticism about the criticism about Moore: "censor the objections, don't censor the objectionable."

About Bart's smarty suggestion as to a drink between Moore and Gibson, that should just slide back down. Even Bart seemed to recognize his sucker punch when he said that.

'They fell for it': from "Mars Attacks," Copyright 1996 Warner Bros.

Here's an article that includes a lot of what the film and many in the media do not:

JUST THE FACTS ON 'FAHRENHEIT 9/11', June 28, 2004, By Tom McNamee, Staff Reporter

And, from Littlegreenfootballs, a good-read reprint here:

6/28/2004: Cheapening the National Debate

"Former New York mayor Ed Koch, another Bush Democrat, has some comments on Michael Moore?s agit-prop film that are worth reading: Koch: Moore?s propaganda film cheapens debate, polarizes nation. (Hat tip: Jheka.)

(The Koch article, as follows):

"A year after 9/11, I was part of a panel discussion on BBC-TV?s ?Question Time? show which aired live in the United Kingdom. A portion of my commentary at that time follows:

"One of the panelists was Michael Moore, writer and director of the award-winning documentary 'Roger & Me.' During the warm-up before the studio audience, Moore said something along the lines of 'I don?t know why we are making so much of an act of terror. It is three times more likely that you will be struck by lightening than die from an act of terror.' I was aghast and responded, 'I think what you have said is outrageous, particularly when we are today commemorating the deaths of 3,000 people resulting from an act of terror.' I mention this exchange because it was not televised, occurring as it did before the show went live. It shows where he was coming from long before he produced 'Fahrenheit 9/11.'

"Many in the audience assembled by the BBC included Americans and people from other nations. Their positive responses to Moore on this and other comments he made during the program convinced me that the producers had found a lair of dingbats when looking to fill the studio with an audience. Moore later called President Bush a 'dummy,' denigrating him for having threatened Iraq with consequences including war if it did not comply with the United Nations resolutions to which it agreed when it was defeated in the 1991 Gulf War. Again, I couldn?t contain myself and said, 'That?s what you radicals on the left always do. You don?t debate issues, you denigrate your opponents. You did it with President Reagan, saying he was dumb. After he left office, 600 speeches, many hand-written by him, demonstrated his high intelligence.'

"In World Wars I and II, the U.S., suffering great casualties to its military personnel, saved the world, particularly in WWII, from occupation by the German Nazi Reich and Japanese empire. We currently are fighting the battle against a minority of fundamentalist Islamists whose objective is to destroy Western civilization. They are willing to use every act of terrorism from suicide bombers to hacking off heads to destroy and terrorize us into surrender. And Michael Moore weakens us before that enemy. How should we respond? With scorn, catcalls, the Bronx cheer and the truth. Of course, we should recognize the outrages and criminal acts committed by Americans in military service and civilians at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib. We should continue as we have done and take action to punish those involved. But we ought not in the media show again and again the pictures of the atrocities to simply flagellate ourselves and give aid and comfort to our enemies. A good rule of thumb might be to show the pictures of Abu Ghraib as many times as we show the beheadings of Danny Pearl, Nicholas Berg and Paul Johnson."

-- posted by Charles at 7:00 PM PST

From the comments section (above), a good read:

The importance of being Michael Moore, By Mark Steyn (Filed: 29/06/2004)

"Excited about Fahrenheit 9/11? It's the Palme d'Or-winning and soon-to-be Oscar-winning documentary from average blue-collar multi-millionaire Michael Moore, and it opens in Britain next week. I saw it over the weekend on my side of the Atlantic, with an audience comprised wholly of informed, intelligent sophisticates.

"I knew they were informed, intelligent sophisticates because they howled with laughter at every joke about what a bozo Bush is. They split their sides during the patriotic ballad ? eagles soaring, etc ? composed and sung by John Ashcroft, the famously sinister US Attorney-General. Moore reveals ? and if you feel that knowing the plot would spoil the movie, please skip to the next paragraph ? that Bush is a privileged simpleton under the control of war-crazed Big Oil interests who arranged to have the 2000 election stolen for him. I hadn't heard that before, had you?

"Once Moore gets past his recounting of the Florida recount, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I agreed with in the movie. For example, he's very hard on the Saudis, and the unique access to the Bush family enjoyed by their oleaginous ambassador in Washington, Prince Bandar. He's also very mocking of the absurdities of post-9/11 airport security, alighting on a poor mom forced to drink a beaker of her own breast milk in front of passengers before boarding in order to demonstrate the liquid wasn't anything incendiary.

"As we left, the couple ahead of me said they thought Bush would have a hard job responding to these shocking revelations. I didn't like to point out they could have heard about all this stuff years ago just by reading yours truly. I mentioned the breast-milk incident in this very space on August 10, 2002. I called for Prince Bandar to be booted back to Saudi in a Spectator column from November 2002, and I've been urging the dismantling of the kingdom ? Washington's out-of-control Frankensaud monster ? for almost three years now, since within a month of 9/11.

"So in theory I ought to welcome Michael Moore as a comrade in arms. But the trouble with Fahrenheit 9/11 is that you don't come away thinking about the Saudis or America's useless bureaucracy, you come away laughing at Bush.

"And, if feeling snobbishly superior to the President isn't your bag, what's left is an incoherent bore. Moore follows his GUT, by which I mean his Grand Universal Theory: Bush is to blame for everything. Because of Bush, the Saudis secretly run US policy. Because of Bush, the Taliban were in bed with Texas energy executives. Because of Bush, the Taliban got toppled.

"Whoa, hold up a minute, I thought he was all pals with the Taliban. The Saudis certainly were, which is why they opposed the liberation of Afghanistan. But by now Moore's moved on to pointing out that Bush's Afghan stooge Hamid Karzai used to work for the Texas energy company panting for that big Afghan gas pipeline.

"But hang on, I thought the Texan energy guys already had the Taliban in their pockets and were funded by the Saudis. "Connecting the dots" is all very well, but not when you've got more dots in your picture than Seurat.

"Bush has always been the issue for Moore. On September 11 itself, his only gripe was that the terrorists had targeted New York and DC instead of Texas or, indeed, my beloved New Hampshire: 'They did not deserve to die. If someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him! Boston, New York, DC and the plane's destination of California ? these were places that voted AGAINST Bush!'

"The fellows at the controls of those planes were training for 9/11 when Clinton was president and Gore was ahead in the polls, and they'd have still been in the cockpit had Ralph Nader been elected. Though Mohammed Atta took flying lessons in Florida, he apparently wasn't as exercised about its notorious hanging chads as Michael Moore. Mr Moore is guilty of what I believe psychologists call 'projection'.

"The 'Why didn't you terrorists kill the Bush voters?' line is not reprised in the movie, but the strange preoccupations it betrays drive the entire picture. Here's the way it works: if Bush is wearing the blue boxer shorts, they're a suspicious personal gift from Crown Prince Abdullah. If Bush is wearing the red boxer shorts, it's a conspiracy to distract public attention from the blue ones he was given by Crown Prince Abdullah. If he's wearing no boxer shorts, it's because he's so dumb he can't find his underwear in the morning.

"So, shortly after 9/11, Moore wrote that footage of one of the World Trade Centre planes showed that it was being trailed by an F-16 ? ie, the government could have shot it down but chose not to, so it could hit all those Al Gore voters. Imagine if, on September 11, the USAF had blown four passenger jets to kingdom come. Moore's film would be filled with poignant home movies of final Christmases and birthday parties and exploitative footage of anguished parents going to Washington to demand the truth about what happened that day and an end to the lame Bush spin about "threats" to public buildings.

"Midway through the picture, a 'peace' activist provides a perfect distillation of its argument. He recalls a conversation with an acquaintance, who observed, 'bin Laden's a real asshole for killing all those people'. 'Yeah,' says the 'pacifist', 'but he'll never be as big an asshole as Bush.' That's who Michael Moore makes films for: those sophisticates who know that, no matter how many people bin Laden kills, in the assholian stakes he'll always come a distant second to Bush.

"I can understand the point of being Michael Moore: there's a lot of money in it. What's harder to figure out is the point of being a devoted follower of Michael Moore. Apparently, the sophisticated, cynical intellectual class is so naﶥ it'll fall for any old hooey peddled by a preening opportunist burlesque act. If the Saudis were smart, they'd have bought him up years ago, established his anti-Saudi credentials, and then used him to promote the defeat of their nemesis Bush.

"Hmm. Maybe they don't need to. Stick him in a headdress and he looks like King Fahd's brother. All I'm saying is connect the dots."

Best for last, another good-read reprint:

"June 28, 2004, Posted at 3:00 PM, Pacific"

"Michael Medved advised me this morning that I could not possibly grasp how lousy a film is Fahrenheit 9/11 unless I had seen it. So I went today, and Michael was right. The movie gives propagandists a bad name. At least it could have been well-made anti-American tripe. Instead it is a crudely made and insufferably dull march through the fever swamps of the unhinged left. It is pulling in big bucks, which is a testament to the disposable income of the swamp residents, but put me down as one in favor of even broader distribution and bigger box offices for the picture. It is an anchor around John Kerry's neck as ordinary Americans not filled with self-loathing will despise Moore for his transparent lies and not trust a political party that does not reject them. I am more certain than I was last week that attending the premier and the standing ovation that followed it was a mistake for Tom Daschle. The folks in South Dakota should hear repeatedly of Daschle's sympathy for Moore's project and point-of-view. The John Kerry-Michael Moore Democrats do in fact represent a low point for that party, and unless and until the Kerrys and Daschles denounce the fraud for what he is, they are stuck with him Some on the left are proclaiming Moore to be their Limbaugh. He's not. Moore is the Democrats' David Duke, but they are putting their arm around him.

"I will not reprise the now well-known deceptions abundant in the movie. The best romp through that territory is Christopher Hitchens'.

"But I will note the one undeniable benefit of the movie's success. It provides a handy reference to the intelligence of the person who sees it. If you encounter anyone speaking in tones even remotely approaching respect for the movie, you have proof positive that the speaker is a fool, not to be trusted on any point, for he or she has given testimony as to their ignorance of basic facts and of an inability to detect even elephant-sized inconsistencies in argument and story line.

"Michael Moore is the latest in a long line of entrepreneurs who have proven P.T. Barnum to have been on the money when it came to the number of suckers abroad in our land. Sure he's a Jabba-sized oaf, but give him his due. He knew how to play the left's paranoia like a fiddle, and he did.

"UPDATE: Moore defenders demand examples of Moore's deceptions. Easiest part of the Michael Moore paranoid fantasy to explode: That President Bush arranged for the bin Laden family to flee the U.S. after 9/11. See this story from The Hill.

"Richard Clarke -- hero to Moore's movie in other parts -- let the bin Ladens go. It never got to Bush. Moore didn't have time to put that in the movie.

"UPDATE: Roger L. Simon relates a telling anectdote about Michael Moore and Hezbollah's endorsement of his film."

"The Wisdom of Michael Moore," Posted by Jon Henke

The "Celestial Cinema," Maui Film Festival

The nicest film viewing experience I've ever had has been under the stars in Wailea, Maui, at the 2002 Maui Film Festival, among an audience of only several hundred people and a cool wind in from the Pacific Ocean after sundown.

I managed a quick stop at this year's (2004) Festival but hope to attend the full Festival in 2005, next June. This year, the world has suddenly discovered the once quiet film and family meet, and it's been reported that several thousand folks showed up this month on Maui, compared with the past many hundred -- which I believe, what with the second traffic jam I've ever seen on Maui, taking place this last week. Good for Maui's economy, good for the films being shown, not so good when what I remember as the best experience on the grass on Maui under the stars has now become more regulated, formal, pronounced, crowded.

Still far nicer, though, than any other film festival, anywhere. But, if there's anything difficult or challenging about the Maui Film Festival, it's that once you're there, it makes it all that more difficult to accept the alternatives. But, best to find out for yourself, next year: June 16-20, 2005.

O.K., now I'm tired of Bill Clinton.

The mistake that's being made with Clinton and the press is that he and his book ("My Life," by Bill Clinton) have been and are being marketed as if he's an author who's written about politics, instead of a politician who's written about being an author. Oprah and Larry King interviewing the author, Bill Clinton, worked as great stand alone spots, but that's where it appears that literary criticism has stepped in and called the politician what he is.

More Moorgery

I'm curious how long it's going to take those same literary critics to come to their senses where Michael Moore is concerned. I hear the reasonable voices on various television broadcasts (Lisa Meyers on MSNBC Friday, guest journalist [name?] on yesterday's "Meet the Press" on NBC, to name two), and, read numerous writers in print, but so far, those reasonable voices don't catch the amount of heat that marketers like, and so what remains, instead, in most print are the "(Moore's) 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Breaks Box Office Record" -- while the "box office record" that's been broken isn't easily explained unless you read between the lines.

I anticipate a fizzle out for Moore among everyone except the urbanites and especially younger audiences, radical groups even (radical to me, radical to the average moviegoer in the U.S.) and especially if Ray Bradbury makes a good case for moral decay here. Um, rather, literary decay.

I hope so, that he does. I agree that Moore's "fact checked" his details; it's the strings that Moore's woven that are checked but it's not the weaving. Too bad more people can't and don't sew, or at least, write novels or make films. Because, if they did, they'd have clearer vision where this thing Moore's created is concerned. More of that urban appeal thing, people drawn and attracted to labels first, disregarding weave.

And, the value of any fabric is in the weave, not in unwoven threads, or, worse, there's devalue in threads woven randomly, without cohesion. As is Moore's (self labelled at various times) "Op-Ed/entertainment/comedy"/political propaganda piece. That last part, he's not included in the labelling, but, many of the rest of us have.

Read more Moorgery: Wizbang Blog, "Your Logic Does Not Resemble Our Earth Logic"

"Six Feet Under," this season, on HBO, has married "Gigli."

The one and only character on the entire Series (well, there are two, but about the first, I explain here), "Arthur," has now left the Series, departed from the Fisher Family Home and Mortuary, or, both. Without Arthur, performed so incredibly well by actor Rainn Wilson, it's a show-and-tell of vanity proportions, some sort of greedy extension toward the Creepy, which always results to my view as just Plain Creepy, uncomfortable because of solicitousness. The Best Creepy isn't solicitous, it just is. Any Creepy that needs affirmation of creepiness, isn't Creepy -- and I get the impression that "Six Feet Under" has moved into the "love me, I'm creepy -- aren't I?" stage.

Indications of this: drains expelling spent human blood, feces in mailed Tupperware gift packaging, the constancy of infedilities, vanities and insecure affections, the fervent and ongoing random, overemphasized and often meaningless sexual escapades that always look to me as if the director, cast and writers got lost on their way to the local Pie Eating Contest Down By the River.

Ah, well, HBO was great while it lasted. "The Sopranos" won't resume production until 2005, with no public announcement available, yet, as to when that means there will be the final, Season Six to view (undoubtedly, late 2006). By then, I hope that David Chase and all have managed to also produce or begin production on a feature film adaptation of "The Sopranos," because HBO without the Series is now floundering -- everything else in the Original Series category is anticlimatic.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I liked "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines".

I was incredibly ready to resist and laugh at this film, but I couldn't. Obviously, I wasn't in a theatre to see the film, but only watched it recently on a movie channel, out of some sort of guilt for having avoided it these many months since it's theatrical release.

I liked, and very, very much, the performances by Nick Stahl, Ahhnold and Claire Danes -- in that order -- and even watched this film several times over before I was satiated with the experience. Nick Stahl is a fabulous actor, just fabulous. His voice-over in the first few scenes of the film was also fabulous, for lack of a better superlative, and serves to exemplify.

Underneath the hat, the foil.

From WizBangBlog: LINK.

I wonder what Gore's favorite color is? What colors does Al Gore think are safe? What colors are dangerous? And don't even get me started on shirts. *Now there's a problem.*

For some excellent Photoshop, see LittleGreenFootballs, June 24, 2004.

The very same group ("ACT") mentioned yesterday ("Shut Down! Sit Up!"), appeared today, again, in the news. I'll reprint the article here because Yahoo's news section has hosted it, removed it, hosted it again, removed it again and seems it's now back "up" but I don't know for how long:

I have to stop laughing first. This is one of those situations where I laugh so hard, then I start crying. And then keep crying. I'm changing my voter registration party affiliation tomorrow, to the Republican Party.

Elections - AP
FELONS PAID IN VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
7:45 PM PST 06/23/04
By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press Writer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Democratic group crucial to John Kerry's presidential campaign has paid felons -- some convicted of sex offenses, assault and burglary -- to conduct door-to-door voter registration drives in at least three election swing states.

America Coming Together, contending that convicted criminals deserve a second chance in society, employs felons as voter canvassers in major metropolitan areas in Missouri, Florida, Ohio and perhaps in other states among the 17 it is targeting in its drive. Some lived in halfway houses, and at least four returned to prison.

ACT canvassers ask residents which issues are important to them and, if they are not registered, sign them up as voters. They gather telephone numbers and other personal information, such as driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers, depending on what a state requires for voter registration.

Felons on probation or parole are ineligible to vote in many states. Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center, which represents election officials, said he is unaware of any laws against felons registering others to vote.

A review of federal campaign finance and state criminal records by The Associated Press revealed that the names and hometowns of dozens of ACT employees in Missouri, Florida and Ohio matched those of people convicted of crimes such as burglary, forgery, drug dealing, assault and sex offenses.

Although it works against the re-election of President Bush, ACT is an independent group not affiliated with Kerry's campaign ? federal law forbids such coordination. Yet ACT is stocked with veteran Democratic political operatives, many with past ties to Kerry and his advisers.

Allison Dobson, a spokeswoman with the Kerry campaign, said there is no coordination with ACT, and of the policy: "We're unaware of it and have nothing to do with it."

ACT plans to spend about $100 million on initiatives to get out the vote for the presidential election, which likely will turn on how well Kerry and Bush can get their supporters to the polls.

ACT does not believe the felons it sends door to door pose a threat to the public, said Mo Elleithee, a Washington-based spokesman for the group.

"We believe it's important to give people a second chance," Elleithee said. "The fact that they are willing to do this work is a fairly serious indication that they want to become productive members of society."

Although ACT asks job applicants to cite their criminal history and hires some felons and not others, Elleithee would not reveal how many felons ACT has hired to canvass neighborhoods and register voters. They earn $8 to $12 per hour.

Elleithee confirmed that felons have been hired in Missouri, Florida and Ohio and said it is possible they have been hired in the other 14 states in which it's conducting its drive: Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Ed Gillespie, the chairman of the Republican Party, issued a statement calling the policy "disturbing" and questioned the use of felons "to go house to house and handle sensitive personal information." (And, thank God for that response from Gillespie!)

In response, Elleithee cited Bush's speech Monday in Ohio, in which he applauded government, religious and community-based programs that give a helping hand to felons after they are released from prison.

"It seems to me that the president seems to agree with our philosophy that people deserve a second chance and deserve the right to re-enter society," Elleithee said.

Citing security concerns for the public and the felons, the Missouri Department of Corrections in April banished ACT from its pool of potential employers for parolees in its halfway houses in Kansas City and St. Louis, department spokesman John Fougere said. Five ACT employees lived at the Kansas City Community Release Center and two others at the St. Louis Community Release Center earlier this year.

"From a public safety standpoint, we didn't want offenders to be in a situation where they would be handling that information," Fougere said. Officials also were concerned the door-to-door campaign would put felons at greater risk of false accusations, he said.

Among the ACT employees in Ohio was a woman convicted of gross sexual imposition. She completed her parole 12 years ago.

"If she was still on parole that job wouldn't have been approved," said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Correction. "People who have been out of prison and haven't had any other problems with law enforcement, they should be given that second chance to be viable citizens."

In Florida, most felons released from prison are not on parole or probation. "If they're released from our custody and there is no other supervision ... we can't prohibit them from taking a job like this," said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections.

ACT adopted a policy against employing violent felons this spring, Elleithee said, but he declined to release it or describe what the group considered violent.

"We're constantly looking internally to better our hiring practices," he said. "But the bottom line is we would never hire anyone who we felt was a threat to anyone else."

At least two felons who were stationed at a Missouri halfway house have since moved into the community and are again employed by ACT "and are a tremendous part of our team," Elleithee said.

Associated Press Writers John McCarthy in Columbus, Ohio, and Mike Schneider in Orlando, Fla., contributed to this report.

I guess this now places me squarely on the hit list of Michael Moore, and under a potentially and/or keen "oppo" focus by Chris Lehane, but, I appreciate the fact that the "R" rating has been upheld for Moore's soon to be released footage.

--> "The R rating prohibits those 17 and younger from seeing "Fahrenheit 9/11" without an adult.

"Moore urged younger teenagers to go see the film anyway. 'I encourage all teenagers to come see my movie, by any means necessary. If you need me to sneak you in, let me know,' he said." <--

No, thanks.

Now we find ourselves as a society in these times, when seeing or not seeing a film is veiled under threat of retaliation, and directive to violate laws, by the filmmakers. Not a very liberal glass of cheer.

So, O.K., it must be GO ALL POLITICAL Days because I can't help myself lately, what with the news. I mean, there's always news, but then now there is newws. Will it ever end?

At least, now I know my instincts are still working. I used to receive emailed "newsletters" from this group (following, article), but just had to write them a disconnect demand several months ago, due to the increasingly whiny tone of their mailings. Thank Heavens that I never sent them any money. Next came MoveOn.

Actually, their tonal issues aren't so much 'whiny' as they are incredibly insane.

Lest anyone complain, the noticable action described here, against this one group, came from "Watchdogs" and not from any political party. I'd have felt far better about the DNC had they stepped in and yelled, "shut up, sit down!" But, they didn't. "Watchdogs" did.

Woof:

Presidential Elections - AP

WATCHDOGS: ANTI-BUSH GROUP BREAKING LAW

(01. D'OH): "Bad sample in LA Times poll?"

(02. D'OH): AP POLL: MOST RATE REAGAN OVER CLINTON

(03. D'OH): The Hollywood Left Mobilizes Against President Bush

(04. D'OH): Developing...

I never intended to use BIRD to reprint or otherwise cut'n'paste political wire service articles and then write "argh" many times over about them, but sometimes the will of the world is too strong for even me, the most hermetic aesthetist even I've ever known, and I have to relent. My next comments, next day perhaps, will be about shoes, and, oh, yeah, films and maybe fire (I do have a plan to that effect) but for today, given the events of the last week, I have to, um, cut'n'paste and write "argh" many times over:

Full article is reprinted because News sites don't leave content in place indefinitely:

Middle East - AP
SAUDIS: HOSTAGE'S SLAYERS DIE IN SHOOTOUT
1 hour, 13 minutes ago (7:39 AM PST 06/19/04) By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi TV broadcast pictures Saturday of four bloodied bodies that authorities identified as the reputed leader of al-Qaida in the kingdom and three other militants killed in a gunbattle after dumping the mutilated body of an American hostage.

The al-Qaida cell allegedly led by Abdulaziz al-Moqrin fulfilled its threat to kill engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr., beheading him and showing grisly photos on the Internet on Friday. The slaying drew a chorus of condemnation from around the world, with even one of America's staunchest foes, Syria, calling it a "shameful crime."

The death of al-Moqrin, 31, would be a coup for Saudi Arabia's government, which has been beset by a wave of attacks on Westerners that has unsettled citizens and foreign residents.

The airing of the pictures appeared to be a rebuttal to a posting on an Islamist Web site Saturday denying al-Moqrin had been killed and saying the claim was "aimed at dissuading the holy warriors and crushing their spirits."

On state-run national television, a Saudi announced said four men killed by police after being cornered at a Riyadh gas station included al-Moqrin, the kingdom's most-wanted terror suspect.

A picture showed the face of an apparently dead young man, clean-shaven except for his mustache and resembling past pictures believed to be of al-Moqrin. Al-Ekhbariya, an all-news Saudi satellite channel, showed a full photograph of the same corpse, covered with blood.

A trickle of blood ran from the mouth of another of the militants pictured, and the teeth of a third appeared smashed.

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday had confirmed al-Moqrin's killing, while a Saudi official said forensic tests would confirm its identity.

Johnson was the latest victim of an escalating campaign of violence against Westerners that is aimed at driving foreign workers from the kingdom and undermining the ruling royal family. Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida's leader, was stripped of his Saudi citizenship more than a decade ago after becoming increasingly critical of the monarchy.

Johnson's severed head was shown on a Web site Friday after his wife went on Arab television and tearfully pleaded for his release.

After news of Johnson's death was released Friday, a witness reportedly saw his body dumped from a car just outside Riyadh and informed police of the car's license number.

Police were said to have stopped the car at a gas station in Riyadh's al-Malaz neighborhood and a fierce gunbattle erupted, during which the four militants died. Al-Ekhbariya broadcast footage of the station showing blood on the street and on merchandise inside.

"Security forces managed last night in confrontations with a group of terrorists to kill four of them, the top being Abdulaziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin, who claims to be the leader of the gang that condemns people as infidels," the state-run TV announcer said, reading from a statement attributed to the Interior Ministry.

The official Saudi Press Agency carried a similar statement. It identified the three other militants killed as Faisal Abdul-Rahman al-Dikheel, Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry and Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Dreiham.

According to the SPA statement, al-Dikheel, also on the kingdom's list of the 26 most-wanted militants, was involved in a number of killings and apparently was featured in video footage of Johnson's killing. It said Al-Muteiry was among the militants involved in a May 29 attack in the oil hub of Khobar that killed 22 people. Al-Dreiham was linked to the Nov. 8 suicide bombing at Riyadh housing compounds that killed 17.

SPA said one security officer was killed in the Friday gunbattle and two were wounded. Earlier, Saudi officials in Washington said on condition of anonymity that five security officers died. Two suspects escaped, according to a Saudi security official who participated.

Al-Moqrin was believed to be behind numerous attacks on foreigners in the kingdom, including the kidnapping and beheading of Johnson, an employee of the U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

Saudi newspapers on Saturday denounced Johnson's killers and hailed the efforts of Saudi security forces. The daily Al-Riyadh quoted al-Moqrin's father as saying he didn't know what had happened to his son, but "he has gone to his destiny." The father, Issa Abdul-Mohsin al-Moqrin, repeatedly had called on his son through the Saudi media to turn himself in.

The Interior Ministry statement said authorities had confiscated three cars used by al-Moqrin's cell, including one believed to have been used in the June 6 killing of Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers. A British Broadcasting Corp. correspondent, Frank Gardner of Britain, was seriously wounded in that attack.

Forged identity papers and a large amount of weapons also were confiscated, including three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, hand grenades and automatic rifles, the statement said.

Saudi authorities also confiscated 132,000 Saudi riyals ($35,200) plus $2,900 in U.S. currency, the statement said.

Johnson, 49, who had worked in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, was kidnapped last weekend by militants who threatened to kill him by Friday if the kingdom did not release its al-Qaida prisoners. The Saudi government rejected the demands.

One of three photographs posted on the Web on Friday showed Johnson's head, face toward the camera, being held by a hand. Two other pictures showed a body lying on a bed with the head placed in the small of the back. The body was in a bright orange jumpsuit, similar to one Johnson was seen wearing in earlier videos released by the kidnappers.

A statement, in the name of Fallujah Brigade of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said that "the infidel got his fair treatment. ... Let him taste something of what Muslims have long tasted from Apache helicopter fire and missiles."

Johnson had worked on Apache helicopters for Lockheed Martin.

President Bush condemned the beheading and vowed that "America will not be intimidated by these kinds of extremist thugs." British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the killing "an act of barbarism." Condemnation also came from Arab governments and Islamic leaders in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation.

Ahmad Haj Ali, a Syrian Information Ministry official, called Johnson's killing "a shameful crime, which is alien to Arab and Muslim morals." In Jordan, King Abdullah II said on state-run Jordanian radio it was "scary and humiliating that this crime has been committed in the name of Islam."

Johnson was seized June 12, the same day that Islamic militants shot and killed Kenneth Scroggs of Laconia, N.H., in his garage in Riyadh. Earlier that week, militants shot and killed another American, Robert Jacobs of Murphysboro, Ill., and Cumbers in Riyadh.

And, from the reader comments, I thought that this pretty well summed things up:

Hostage's Slayers Die in Shootout
by: (name withheld here in reprint) 06/19/04 10:46 am - Msg: 32789 of 32838 - 2 recommendations

"Liberal press still can't call a spade a spade or a terrorist a terrorist."

Once again, WIZBANG provides the best coverage, comments, references, about the events prior to the reprinted report.

I am praying for the soul of Paul Johnson, and, for his family. I am also praying that we find some solution to the Middle Eastern conditions and soon, other than the use of nuclear weapons -- horrible to bring that point to bear here, but, it took an act of that horrible magnitude to bring the Japanese to their senses and to begin the end of World War II and, as awful as it is, I am reading more often on the Internet from the last forty-eight hours, that dropping nuclear weapons on the Middle East as being the preferred "solution", or, rather, suggestion to a solution.

In fact, let us all pray, everywhere, and ask God to quiet the world. That includes all of us, everyone, everywhere, the will of the world.

Incredibly gruesome, barbaric, beyond imagination. It is very difficult as the news is being broadcast this morning, to accept certain homosapiens on our planet, as being human, humanized. This morning, I do doubt that they are. They walk, talk, certainly commit horrible acts, but all resemblance to human beings ends there.

"FORBES NAMES MEL GIBSON MOST POWERFUL CELEBRITY"







From the New Jersey GOP Dude o' the Week page: "In (an) interview with CBS' Mark McEwen, McEwen accuses (Gibson) of being pro-life, pro-capital punishment, and generally not as liberal as Hollywood.

"McEwen told Gibson: 'You live in Hollywood, work in Hollywood -- liberal town. Some of your views aren't as liberal as that town. You're anti-abortion, pro-capital punishment, do you ever feel like you're howling in a hurricane?

"Gibson replied: 'Some kind of a dinosaur? No, you know, you have to have these opinions about these things. I'm pretty firm on stuff like that. I don't feel like I'm howling in a hurricane. I just try to do my bit the way I think it should be done.'"







Related: read about other GOP Dude's o'the Week...(there's also a Babes category).

Look at that. Just look at it. Does that image embarrass you? Are you irritated at the site of that? Do you perceive it as not intellectual enough, not smartly, something that will bring the 'wrong people' into your cubicle? The "wrong" color? The image is jumping off the screen, *forcing you* to run out of the room? To lose your mind? What? Many other people find it wonderful to look at, aren't at all embarrassed by seeing it, and respond with pretty much all the opposite responses to what I first described here.

Some people, however, find a lot to be irritable about these days, where "religion" is concerned and especially, Christianity. But, we have a country that was founded by people who sought out and then founded a place where they could live and engage in a "freedom of religion." Not a freedom from religion, but an environment where the individual could engage in a freedom of belief, express themselves freely about their religious beliefs and experiences, and they all appear to have thanked "God" heartily and mightily for the privilege. They even wrote a Constitution for their land and made prominent mention of "God" as the source of the bountiful and pleasant freedoms they enjoyed there, here, our country.

Thomas Jefferson's concepts, authored a good while later, were based upon the potentially feared possibility that there'd be another England in North America, that the United States had the potential to recreate King Henry VIII's version of "The Church of England," and so we have the incorporated Amendment to our Constitution, thanks to Thomas Jefferson, that's now called "The Separation of Church and State." It means, and means only, that there isn't to be any nationally created, federally organized form of religion. That the federal government in the U.S. is not to mimic England's King Henry VIII and "found (or establish) a (state organized) church" that they could require citizens to participate in.

But, that Separation of Church and State never commands (interesting word) anyone to prevent the freedom of religious expression by any citizen. It means that the government can't found a national religion and command/require citizens to participate in it, as an act of government.

Funny thing is, the freedom of religion is almost, to a one-hundred percentile, now being used in a counter, "anti-religion" method by the ACLU and various other atheist interest groups, to prevent religious expression by everyone else. Not all religious expression, just expressions of Christianity. So far, everyone I read who is offput and otherwise cranky about Christianity, isn't a Christian.

Apparently, the ACLU ("American Civil Liberties Union") waged a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles to remove a "cross" symbol from their City Seal. The ACLU says they have no problem with the rosary that remains in the seal, and apparently, are oblivious to the pagan goddess, "Pomona," who comprises the better part of the seal. But, the cross had to go. And did, apparently, due to someone rolling over to appease the mumbo jumbo that usurps American life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that masqueredes as the ACLU.

If ever that organization served a good and lucidly honest purpose in the country, that day has since expired. I can remember thinking, years ago, that the organization existed to "protect" American "liberties" (interpreted, as most people do, assumed to mean "freedoms" -- about which, I do believe there's a con underway).

Like a lot of gullible people, I assumed at an earlier age, as with Superman, SOMEone had to "stand up for" and "protect" all the "liberties/freedoms" that were plagued and under threat of attack and being zeroed out by the, um, by the, um, by the...mumble, mumble.

However, what's actually going on is that the ACLU has blimped into an organization that now steamrolls over "liberties" in the name of "freedom." As in, remove them. Eliminate them. Someone writes a snippy letter, files an attitudinal offputting complaint ("they're forcing their religion on meeee!") and, because they've managed to seize the property of people and localities that are on the losing side of their various lawsuits, they can, apparently, afford to ramp up the volume against others and now are suing cities, as they have Los Angeles, to remove the tiny "cross" from the city seal and any other "religious imagery" (but which apparently is targeting Christian imagery and Christian imagery only, since pagan, even atheist and other symbols, are okey-dokey).

People now speculate that cities nationwide can be, by the same precedent, "sued" inorder to remove written reference to "God" and Christianity, including the actual names of cities themselves. If someone's buggered by a cross in a city seal, as apparently they were in Los Angeles (why am I not surprised at that), then certainly they must just haaate being reminded that they live in a city that's named, "City of The Angels" in the Spanish language. *Oh, the horror of that.*

Like a lot of other people, however, I like crosses, religious imagery, find inspiration in religious symbols, names, references, literature, first person experiences, fine arts and architecture, even, in relationship to Christ and Christianity, along with anything about the Old Testament. I just don't go around lobbing lawsuits and writing angry letters to people, private and public, who aren't Christians. I do see a lot of atheists and other forms of religion, doing so. Perhaps the wheel turns slowly, but, in my experience, it's Christianity that's bugging people, mostly those who know little to nothing about it, but do fear a lot.

Elsewhere, an atheist took a suit all the way to the Supreme Court, attempting to strike down the phrase, "under God" from our U.S. Pledge of Allegiance, which the Supreme Court refused to strike. And yet, the mumblingjumbling wire services just had to report that the ruling was based, in blaring headlines, "on a technicality." Not "stuck down," "denied" or otherwise, but, rather, "on a technicality." As in, barely. By a nose. Flimsy ruling. Send in the ACLU and strike down that flimsy thing, send the Supreme Court decision back to, um, back to, um...the country or something, 'cause this is the CITY.

No one is compelled or ordered by the Constitution or any other government organization, to SAY the Pledge of Allegiance or any part of it they don't like or find worthy, for any reason, and an explanation about why that choice is made isn't even, either, required. Say "under God," don't say it, it's up to the individual. Don't like hearing "under God," so what, other people do -- and listen all day nearly everywhere to why people object to "under God," about "God," dislike "God" and on and on, these lawsuits, court cases, speeches, woebegone begs for donations, why "God" and references to "God" are just horrible in our American society, why satanism works, by astrologers are the way, why...

Until the Constitution is actually thrown out of the U.S., the rest of us citizens have the right to our freedom of religion, and we can say "under God" because we want to. And, including "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance does not a "institutionalized religion" make. It's an expression of and by a free society, of and by a freely reverant society, and God forbid the ACLU twists that understanding around so much in the minds of our country to mean that freedom is servitude and servitude is freedom, despite their best efforts to do just that.

I think the wheel will turn. Unfortunately, it appears that atheism and a combined influence of various "anti Christian" "anti religion" religions, as complex as that is, bring a form of terrorism home. It's just masquereding as the "American Civil Liberties (cough, cough) Union (more coughing)." Terrorists are as terrorists do.

Read:
NEVER NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS from Wizbang!

I am considering -- actually, decided upon -- a move back to the Republican Party.

I'll explain: it's not an idle, impestuous or impulsive decision, although I'm only writing about the issue now. I used to vote as a Republican, as I've written about here ("Merging Into One...," June 6, 2004), but opted to vote as a Democrat when Bill Clinton ran for the Presidency, and for whom I voted, twice. Even as a Republican in the past, however, I voted for Senator Dianne Feinstein (D/California) -- I tend to evaluate the individuals competing for and about the issues in respective campaigns and these are what, for whom and how I vote, despite strict Party alignment(s).

However, after much thought about this, I owe an apology to now Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). The thing about the "Special Election" -- otherwise known as the "California Recall Election" -- that brought Schwarzenegger into the California Governor's office, and dismissed then-Governor Grey Davis (D), really offended me, and offended me from a point of ethics alone. Politically, it allowed a lesser number/percentage of voters in the state to override the already cast decision of a larger number/percentage of voters, as to who would be Governor. So, it appeared to me to be irregular, approaching dirty politics. I wasn't primed to regard Schwarzenegger in a kindly light, because of that. The "Recall" process itself left me very suspect of Schwarzenegger and the California Republican Party (and national Party, also, because of this).

Now, I feel differently. Schwarzenegger is proving himself to be a more than capable Governor, and even better, has been willing to display flexibility in the State with some issues that directly affect the lives and well-being of the most vulnerable in our population, which is a big improvement from his initial presentation.

On an even more personal level, a big motivator about my own Party affiliation and alignment, a big part of it, has to do with which group of voters as a Party personality I feel the most in common with and which I find the most offensive. And, about that, I've been gradually finding liberal sources far more ingratiating and irrational than I ever have, even from years ago.

I'm more as to character, however, than someone who is easily influenced by social interactions and peer relationships. These are very important things, yes, but I'm capable of maintaining a perspective, despite peer pressure, or even, without any social support, when I believe in what I'm doing, how I feel, what I've reasoned through to some conclusion. Which is because, mostly, I know from my own thought processes that I never arrive at any conclusion, about much of anything, great or small, without a great deal of time, investigation, consideration and rumination. I really work to explore what I feel and think and why. And I never proceed on any conclusion I've already made, if I have doubts about it -- at least, doubts that progress to the point that my conscience asserts itself, at which time, I know I have to make a change.

And, that's where I am now. I've experienced a nagging irritation and doubt about voting again as a Democrat for a while now. I would've supported Wesley Clark for the Presidency, had he been the Democratic nominee, but I have doubts about John Kerry and about the present day Democratic Party, based upon the Internet talk I read, the news, behaviors.

Perhaps I swim upstream as a personality characteristic, perceiving the water flow and then opting to swim in the opposite direction. But, with John Kerry (D/Massachusetts), I feel that there's a giant wave of unknown, a subtle indication of *something* pending if Kerry is elected that is intentionally not being affirmed now, during the campaign. Which lends more explanation to the somewhat baffling, Republican criticism of John Kerry as "flip-flopping." It's because there's an awareness that Kerry has things in mind, in the works, intends that which he isn't necessarily making clear now, that something's going to rebound and bite if you go up hill. Maybe not, but, I'm beginning to have this feeling. Also.

What's going on now with my own voter conscience is a sense that Kerry isn't being clear, and is being, therefore, intentionally evasive. I worry about this.

Coupled with my spiritual beliefs and the contrariness, even ridicule and outright denigration, I read from many among Democrats about what I hold to be reverent, the Republican Party does now, then, represent more accurately what I believe government and those who govern should represent and enact, on my behalf.

And, the DNC seems to be voter hungry to such an extent that they're disallowing any definitive point about anything, and making the form of government they have in mind so general as to be alarmingly vague and worrisome. As in, something is planned but it's not being revealed now. Which bothers me, and very much.

So, explanations aside: the Republicans have my vote again, the Democrats have lost my vote again. I'm apparently more of a Reagan Democrat than I have been aware, despite the innacurate definition by some, about that expression. It comes down to the fact that the Democratic Party isn't a comfortable place to be.

Tony Soprano announces "The Family" situation.

This is among the most wry, dry and smart applications o' musical lyrics by David Chase, in THE SOPRANOS, this Season Five Finale,"All Due Respect": applying the song, "Glad Tidings," by Van Morrison, to this recent and last Episode 65.

Whoever reads this and doesn't get this, I'm not going to explain further, because it's either something you got when you first heard it, or, didn't. If you didn't, it'd be laborious to explain, so I'll move on here.

When Season Four concluded, and some people on a few forums/boards here and there (one site, particularly, comes to mind, peppered with self-identifying, high-brow literary types with tiny stars by their names), the tiresome opines tested everyone else's patience by wondering incredulously as to the ending scene from Season Four's last Episode ("Whitecaps") -- Tony Soprano donning his black cap, driving his red SUV into New York to stay at "The Plaza," as he announced to Carmela -- my patience was worn. Worn, because, that concluding scene from "Whitecaps" (which, along with "Whoever Did This," represented and represent my two favorite Episodes of the entire series), that concluding scene was so clearly written, produced and enacted to my eye and ear, as to be written in stone and spelled out, plain as day, for anyone to understand. And, yet, amazing it was to me to read the many questions and complaints, elsewhere, about that concluding scene ("it was boring/dull/vague/anticlimactic..." among the comments, but, most often, "what does it MEAN?").

And, from me, I write, "it means that Tony S. has moved into New York."

With a cap on. A black one.

Tony Soprano concludes Tony Blundetto's Caretaker situation. Screen capture from Episode 65, "All Due Respect," from "TVGASM"

Now we have the conclusion of Season Five and Tony Soprano is lined up to assume, for lack of any substantial opposing force, the New York territory, including Miami: I suspected (wrote about this recently) that Little Carmine wasn't really as stupid as he's been up to now, that Johnny Sack was ripe for the fall, and that, almost certainly, Tony S. had all of it at his feet if he survived the family ( little "f" ) and his own fade-ins and fade-outs.

Tony Soprano reminds Johnny Sack

about the "five hundred pound elephant" situation.

So, surviving all of that, Tony S. -- (the story is clouded, since the apparent "indictment" "would have reached all the way up to Carmine, Senior if he hadn't died," according to Tony Soprano's attorney, meaning, Episode 65 implied that all of the Carmine ["New York"] Family was included in the indictment, so there's the assumption that Little Carmine was nabbed when and as was Johnny Sack) -- there's the fact that Tony S. is the only one remaining who can assume responsibilities, with Johnny Sack, et al. tied up, no longer involved, that Tony Soprano is the only remaining and formidably capable "General" around.

"The five hundred pound elephant" that Tony reminded Johnny Sack about, in stunted, juvenile proportions, was enough to bring them back to an embrace, despite the ensuing and sudden entrance of the Feds at that very moment, nabbing Sack. Tony S., regarding Tony Blundetto's occluded ball o' twine of self industry as meager, compared with Sack's emaciated elephant in the room of their mutual past, reminded me of just who this Series is about and what; and, Tony Blundetto's bad return to the farm, made worse with Tony S. assuming the work involved, was Tony Soprano's necessary service, payment in full for the glad tidings to come from New York: it all worked to bring Tony Soprano in as Top Bear.

I knew this was coming, I knew it, if for the only reason that no Series this great or otherwise would cast Steve Buscemi this greatly or otherwise, even and although the story itself has been consistently moving toward this conclusion. Despite himself, Tony S. has been moving toward this latest episodic change, seasonal balancing act, for the full Series.

New York aside, however, still out there in the ether is that tape that the old guy informant, sneaky Ray Curto, handed over to the agent in the car, in the opening first few minutes of this recent Episode 65, announcing to the agent, "it's got Tony Soprano and Vito Spatafore talkin' about the bus terminal project." So, Tony S. and Family ( capital "F" ) are still in obvious observation and impending indictment, but that's for the next Season, Season Six, in eighteen months in the future (January 2006 is what I've read, as to when the next and last Season Six will premiere, and continue for only ten Episodes).

It's efficient that the various characters and sub-agents, subsets of plots and issues complicating the Series have now, for the most part, been resolved, or, turned off completely. In the next Season, the concluding Season, Season Six, we'll nearly certainly see Tony S. and the Feds in some sort of resolution. While I understand that Tony's acts and ethics are more than enough to damn him all to Hell, I also know that the Series is about Tony Soprano, and all the rest of it is either specifics or details, including everyone else, and that most of us viewers -- despite the obvious -- want to see Tony S. continue. Not necessarily in crime and desperate, deprived acts, but manage to conquer the literary obvious turning of the screw, and that is, to not die out, to not be penned out, in a cell or otherwise.

I speculated months ago, before I abandoned even reading that earlier-mentioned high-brow bogus literary board, that Tony Soprano might escape to the Caribbean, Italy even, take his or whoever's money and run. Make a change, come to his senses, repent the Life and live. It's fiction, after all, and so anything is possible, even Tony Soprano working as a stone mason in Italy -- a wealthy stone mason, mind you, but still a stone mason.

Might happen. I hesitate to bring Tony Soprano's self-described intelligence into his survival options here (his "I.Q. is "136 -- it's been tested"), and I started to write, 'it might happen, if he's smart enough,' but I realize that what most of us viewers want, at this point, is a leap off the page of expected plot: Tony Soprano makes a change, and after that, he makes that "geographic."

Unfortunately, this seems to be the lyrical language of doom -- happy though it may be at the outset, a conquering, impending doom nonetheless. To write here that most of us can't bear to see the conclusion of this series is the reason we will see it, to see the conclusion:

GLAD TIDINGS by Van Morrison
Album : Moondance

And they'll lay you down low in the easy
And the lips that you kiss will say Christmas.
And the miles that you traveled the distance
So believe no lies, dry your eyes and realize
That surprise
La, la, la, la la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...
And the businessmen will shake hands and talk in numbers
And the princess will wake up from her slumber
Then all the knights will step forth with their arm bands
And ev'ry stranger you meet in the street will make demands
So believe no lies, then dry your eyes and realize
That surprise
La, la, la...

Bridge:
And we'll send you glad tidings from New York
Open up your eyes so you may see
Ask you not to read between the lines
Hope that you will come in right on time
And they'll talk to you while you're in trances
And you'll visualize not taking any chances
But meet them halfway with love, peace and persuasion
And expect them to rise for the occasion
Don't it gratify when you see it materialize
Right in front of your eyes
That surprise
And they'll lay you down low and easy

Whenever hugely eventful history takes place, I delay writing about it in "BIRD" for a few hours, if not a few days, because there's that abundance thing on the Internet: everywhere, coverage in great details about the eventful history that's taken place, and me wondering why my journal would, if ever, be read about whatever it is or was. I realize I'm underestimating humanity here, but, rather, on the other hand, I'm acknowledging my own limitations.

Ronald Reagan, Rest in Peace.

I voted for Ronald Reagan for the Presidency, on his first and second campaigns for that Office. I even voted for the first President George Bush, but it was after that that I opted to vote as a Democrat, although I have to really, really work at voting that way.

The years that Reagan was in the Presidency, nearly everyone I knew and worked with, was busy. Working, not being too loudly political, just very busy, being busy. But, then, too, I was working with and among nearly a one-hundred percentile Republican peer environment, and no one that I can recall from those days was even talking about politics except the one, lone Democrat and those who would visit him during those years, looking around them as if they'd walked into some strange and unknown, uneasy land among strange, unknown, eight-feet tall, red, fuzzy things.

I did notice their discomfort then but only realized why the discomfort years later, when I opted to vote as a Democrat and thought back over my years as a voting and among voting Republicans. A random, public person once ebulated to me, at a random, public event, that I should "go work for Governor Brown's campaign" and I remember being completely startled at the incongruity of the comment, and the person making it. My environment was, for the most part, nearly saturated with Republicans, so no one was talking then about (now, former) Governor Brown (CA), least of all, his campaign for re-election.

There was another Democrat (that made two of them) who I knew and spoke with during those years of Reagan's Presidency and the general Reagan-CA-eight-to-ten-year-environment, and he lamented Reagan as being "an actor", someone enacting, pretending the Presidency. It was an eye-opening statement when I first heard it those years ago, something I hadn't thought of or about before that, that there might really be a hired-hand performer sitting in the White House. But, I thought about it then, and have many times since.

I mention that because I thought back over my life when Reagan was in the White House, and realized how non-political my daily events and thoughts were. I voted for what was safer and most comfortable and in congruity with the people I worked with and knew at that time. It wasn't until I began voting as a Democrat, that I even knew what political arguments were.

And, about those -- political arguments -- they're far worse in and among those who say that they vote as Democrats. I mean, there's an apparent non-ending scream by the "liberal" voices on the Internet and in our world, even when they make sense. I'm peaked with and about it, truly and really, peaked with the cacophany of naysaying and invective that I read and hear from "liberal" sources, about nearly everyone, including other "liberals." I write, "liberal" and "liberals" here in parentheticals, because, they're anything but reserved, moderated well, orderly and purposeful, anything but not tolerant of others, not at all inclusive and the list goes on and on as to why the very term, "liberal," defies the behavior and general personality by most who call themselves so. Same thing, however, with "conservative" and "conservatives," indicating further disconnect from the labels.

With Ronald Reagan in office, there wasn't this disconnect. The labels worked. Not so much an issue about contradictions, as there was about disparities -- you were one thing or another, had one position or another, and never the two intermingled, as was more or less exemplified by the fact that among the many hundreds of people I worked with every day for nearly a decade, I can only recall being able to identify two among them as Democrats.

Strangely enough, however -- returning to the issue of the two tag lines ("liberal" and "conservative") -- I found to be the most disturbing in this past year the Dean campaigners, ramming and colliding with everyone of other opinion on and all over the Internet, and with Dean himself, lambasting Democrats, and now, even stranger, cozied up to them. What was Dean's point, again? I can't remember now. At least, with Republicans, there's a point, a sense that they're working together, merging a bit more, following the same vision. With and among nearly all the liberals I read and hear from, it's all about the negative, but without a hand up, a plan. There's an abundance of what is wrong, but no idea as to anything else, other than that there should be no conservatives. *Right, now there's a reasonable plan if I ever heard one.*

So, with Ronald Reagan passing away today -- certainly everyone has expected, even anticipated, this day for many years now -- I am not so much sad as feeling a sense of relief for his family and caregivers and a sense of history, also a sense of historical wheeling around: Margaret Thatcher issuing a Press Release yesterday, the former and first President Bush on television again, reruns of film footage and reprints of news about Nancy and Ronnie and more, all this day and anticipated to be on most news television for several more days to come. I am also reconsidering what merging means to me, and looking around for where it appears most possible to do so. I'd like to think that there was a point to all this.

And, so, I wish this morning that I could merge easily into one political party. But, I cannot. I cannot support many behaviors and positions by many Democrats, that run contrary to values and reason, even, while I also cannot easily support many positions by many Republicans. What I'm trying to decide, at this point, is which vote will accomplish the greater good, and which will do the most damage, and to follow the first and avoid the latter.

Ronald Reagan, performer or not, as an individual, left our world a while ago, from what I've read as to his state of deteriorating health. Under these circumstances, everything we do today and in the days ahead, to honor the man and the life he lived, is for ourselves. He certainly left enough history behind, enough to last many lifetimes to come.

The man said he did his best. I hope so.

"...gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime....let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan."

--General John Logan, General Order No. 11, 5 May 1868

Memorial Day History

Information on "Taps"

And, following is a list of the American service men and women who have lost their lives in our recent and ongoing war.

"...Official Pentagon statistics show 802 U.S. dead and 4,682 wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom as of Friday morning. Another 122 have died and 310 have been wounded as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, mainly in Afghanistan.

"The official figures do not include at least five soldiers in Iraq and four in Afghanistan killed during the weekend."

I hope that everyone will say a prayer for their souls:

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Sgt. Michael D. Acklin II, 25, Louisville, Ky., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Spc. Genaro Acosta, 26, Fair Oaks, Calif., November 11, 2003, Taji, Iraq

Pfc. Steven Acosta, 19, Calexico, Calif., October 26, 2003, Baqubah, Iraq

Capt. James F. Adamouski, 29, Springfield, Va., April 2, 2003, Iraq

Pvt. Algernon Adams, 36, Aiken, S.C., October 28, 2003, Forward Operating Base. St. Mere, Iraq

1st Lt. Michael R. Adams, 24, Seattle, Wash., March 16, 2004, Al Asad, Iraq

Pfc. Michael S. Adams, 20, Spartanburg, S.C., August 21, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Jamaal R. Addison, 22, Ga., March 23, 2003, Iraq

Capt. Tristan N. Aitken, 31, State College, Pa., April 4, 2003, Iraq

Spc. Ronald D. Allen, Jr., 22, Mitchell, Ind., August 25, 2003, near Balad, Iraq

Sgt. Glenn R. Allison, 24, Pittsfield, Mass., December 18, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. John D. Amos, II, 20, Valparaiso, Ind., April 4, 2004, Kirkuk, Iraq

Spc. Michael Andrade, 28, Bristol, Rhode Island, September 24, 2003, Balad, Iraq

Spc. Edward John Anguiano, 24, Brownsville, Texas, March 23, 2003, Iraq

Spc. Richard Arriaga, 20, Ganado, Texas, September 18, 2003, Tikrit, Iraq

Spc. Robert R. Arsiaga, 25, of San Antonio, Texas, April 4, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Cpl. Evan Asa Ashcraft, 24, West Hills, Calif., July 24, 2003, north of Al Hawd, Iraq

Capt. Matthew J. August, 28, R.I., January 27, 2004, Khalidiyah, Iraq

Sgt. 1st Class Henry A. Bacon, 45, Wagram, N.C., February 20, 2004, Ad Dujayl, Iraq

Sgt. Andrew Joseph Baddick, 26, Coaldale, Pa., September 29, 2003, near Ghraib Prison, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Daniel A. Bader, 28, Colorado Springs, Colo., November 2, 2003, Al Fallujah, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Nathan J. Bailey, 46, Nashville, Tenn., November 12, 2003, Camp Arifjan, Iraq

Spc. Ryan T. Baker, 24, Brown Mills, N.J., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Sgt. Sherwood R. Baker, 30, Plymouth, Penn., April 26, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Solomon C. Bangayan, 24, Jay, Vt., January 2, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Lt. Col. Dominic R. Baragona, 42, Ohio, May 19, 2003, Iraq

Spc. Jonathan P. Barnes, 21, Anderson, Mo., July 26, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Command Sgt. Maj. Edward Carl Barnhill, 50, Shreveport, La., May 14, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Michael Paul Barrera, 26, Von Ormy, Texas, October 28, 2003, Baqubah, Iraq

Spc. Todd M. Bates, 20, Bellaire, Ohio, December 10, 2003, south of Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Alan N. Bean, Jr., 22, Bridport, Vt., May 25, 2004, Iskandariyah, Iraq

Spc. Beau R. Beaulieu, 20, Lisbon, Maine, May 24, 2004, Taji, Iraq

Spc. James L. Beckstrand, 27, Escondido, Calif., April 29, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Gregory A. Belanger, 24, Narragansett, R.I., August 27, 2003, Al Hallia, Iraq

Sgt. Aubrey D. Bell, 33, Tuskegee, Ala., October 27, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. Wilfred D. Bellard, 20, Lake Charles, La., April 4, 2003, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Bellavia, 28, Wakefield, Mass., October 16, 2003, Karbala, Iraq

Sgt. 1st Class William M. Bennett, 35, Seymour, Tenn., September 12, 2003, Ar Ramadi, Iraq

Spc. Robert T. Benson, 20, Spokane, Wash., November 4, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

1st Lt. David R. Bernstein, 24, Phoenixville, Pa., October 18, 2003, Taza, Iraq

Spc. Joel L. Bertoldie, 20, Independence, Mo. July 18, 2003 Fallujah, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Stephen A. Bertolino, 40, Orange, Calif., November 29, 2003, Haditha, Iraq

Cpl. Mark A. Bibby, 25, Watha, N.C., July 21, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Benjamin W. Biskie, 27, Vermilion, Ohio, December 24, 2003, near Samarra, Iraq

Sgt. Jarrod W. Black, 26, Peru, Ind., December 12, 2003, Ar Ramadi, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Michael T. Blaise, 29, Tenn., January 23, 2004, Mosul, Iraq

Capt. Ernesto M. Blanco, 28, Texas, December 28, 2003, Qaryat Ash Shababi, Iraq

Command Sgt. Maj. James D. Blankenbecler, 40, Alexandria, Va., October 1, 2003, Samarra, Iraq

Spc. Joseph M. Blickenstaff, 23, Corvallis, Ore., December 8, 2003, Ad Duluiyah, Iraq

Sgt. Trevor A. Blumberg, 22, Canton, Mich., September 14, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. 1st Class Craig A. Boling, 38, Elkhart, Ind., July 8, 2003, Camp Wolf, Kuwait

Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Bolor, 37, Whittier, Calif., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Stevon A. Booker, 34, Apollo, Pa., April 5, 2003, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW4) Clarence E. Boone, 50, Fort Worth, Texas, December 2, 2003, Kuwait City, Kuwait

Pfc. Rachel K. Bosveld, 19, Waupun, Wis., October 26, 2003, Abu Ghraib, Iraq

Spc. Mathew G. Boule, 22, Dracut, Mass., April 2, 2003, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Hesley Box, Jr., 24, Nashville, Ark., May 6, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Edward W. Brabazon, 20, Philadelphia, Pa., March 9, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Kenneth R. Bradley, 39, Utica, Miss., May 28, 2003, Baqubah, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Stacey C. Brandon, 35, Hazen, Ark., April 24, 2004, Taji, Iraq

Spc. Artimus D. Brassfield, 22, Flint, Mich., October 24, 2003, Samaria, Iraq

Pfc. Joel K. Brattain, 21, Santa Anna, Calif., March 13, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. Jeffrey F. Braun, 19, Stafford, Conn., December 12, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Steven H. Bridges, 33, Tracy, Calif., December 8, 2003, Ad Duluiyah, Iraq

Spc. Kyle A. Brinlee, 21, Pryor, Okla., May 11, 2004, Al Asad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Cory W. Brooks, 32, Philip, S.D., April 24, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Thomas F. Broomhead, 34, Cannon City, Colo., May 27, 2003, Al-Fallijah, Iraq

Cpl. Henry L. Brown, 22, Natchez, Miss., April 8, 2003, Iraq

Pfc. John E. Brown, 21, Troy, Ala., April 14, 2003, Iraq

Spc. Larry K. Brown ,22 , Jackson, Miss., April 5, 2003, Iraq

Spc. Lunsford B. Brown II, 27, Creedmore, N.C., September 20, 2003, Abu Gareeb, Iraq

Pfc. Nathan P. Brown, 21, South Glens Falls, N.Y., April 11, 2004, Samarra, Iraq

Spc. Philip D. Brown, 21, El Paso, Texas, May 8, 2004, Balad, Iraq

Pfc. Timmy R. Brown, Jr., 21, Conway, Pa., August 12, 2003, Taji, Iraq

2nd Lt. Todd J. Bryant, 23, Riverside, Calif., October 31, 2003, Al Fallujah, Iraq

Sgt. Ernest G. Bucklew, 33, Enon Valley, Pa., November 2, 2003, Al Fallujah, Iraq

Spc. Roy R. Buckley, 24, Merrillville, Ind., April 22, 2003, Iraq

Pfc. Paul J. Bueche, 19, Daphne, Ala., October 21, 2003, Balad, Iraq

Lt. Col. Charles H. Buehring, 40, Fayetteville, N.C., October 26, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. George Edward Buggs, 31, Barnwell, S.C., March 23, 2003, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Christopher Bunda, 29, Wash., January 25, 2004, Mosul, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Richard A. Burdick, 24, National City, Calif., December 10, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Sgt. Travis L. Burkhardt, 26, Edina, Mo., June 6, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. Jesse R. Buryj, 21, Canton, Ohio, May 5, 2004, Karabala, Iraq

Pfc. Charles E. Bush Jr., 43, Buffalo, N.Y., December 19, 2003, Balad, Iraq

Pvt. Matthew D. Bush, 20, East Alton, Ill., August 8, 2003, Camp Caldwell, Iraq

Pfc. Damian S. Bushart, 22, Waterford, Mich., November 22, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Jacob L. Butler, 24, Wellsville, Kan., April 1, 2003, Iraq

Capt. Joshua T. Byers, 29, Nev., July 23, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Cpl. Juan C. Cabralbanuelos, 25, Emporia, Kan., January 31, 2004, Kirkuk, Iraq

Sgt. Charles T. Caldwell, 38, North Providence, R.I., September 1, 2003, south of Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Nathaniel A. Caldwell, 27, Omaha, Nebraska, May 21, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Joseph Camara, 40, New Bedford, Mass., September 1, 2003, south of Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Michael C. Campbell, 34, Marshfield, Mo., May 19, 2004, Samarra, Iraq

Sgt. Ryan M. Campbell, 25, Kirksville, Mo., April 29, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Marvin A. Camposiles, 25, Austell, Ga., April 17, 2004, Samarra, Iraq

Spec. Isaac Campoy, 21, Douglas, Ariz., October 28, 2003, Baqubah, Iraq

Spc. Ervin Caradine, Jr., 33, of Memphis, Tenn., May 2, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Adolfo C. Carballo, 20, Houston, Texas, April 10, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Cpl. Richard P. Carl, 26, King Hill, Idaho, May 9, 2003, Sammarah, Iraq

Spc. Ryan G. Carlock, 25, Macomb, Ill., September 09, 2003, northwest of Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Edward W. Carmen, 27, McKeesport, Penn., April 17, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Jocelyn L. Carrasquillo, 28, Wrightsville Beach, N.C., March 13, 2004, Iraq

Pfc. Jose Casanova, 23, El Monte, Calif., October 13, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Ahmed A. Cason, 24, of McCalla, Ala., April 4, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Capt. Paul J. Cassidy, 36, Laingsburg, Mich., July 13, 2003, Camp Babylon, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Roland L. Castro, 26, San Antonio, Texas, January 16, 2003, Camp Cedar II, Iraq

Sgt. Sean K. Cataudella, 28, Tucson, Ariz., August 30, 2003, Ba'Qubah, Iraq

Spec. Doron Chan, 20, Highland, New York, March 18, 2004, Balad, Iraq

Spc. James A. Chance III, 25, Kokomo, Miss., November 6, 2003, Husaybah, Iraq

Staff Sgt. William D. Chaney, 59, Schaumburg, Ill., May 18, 2004, Landstuhl, Germany

Spc. Jason K. Chappell, 22, Hemet, Calif., Jan. 24, 2004, Khalidiyah, Iraq

Pfc. Jonathan M. Cheatham, 19, Camden, Ark., July 26, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Yihjyh L. Chen, 31, of Saipan, Marianas Protectorate, April 4, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Cpl. Andrew F. Chris, 25, Calif., June 25, 2003, Iraq

Spc. Brett T. Christian, 27, North Royalton ,Ohio ,July 23, 2003 ,Mosul ,Iraq

Staff Sgt. Thomas W. Christensen, 42, Atlantic Mine, Mich., December 25, 2003, Baquba, Iraq

Spc. Arron R. Clark, 20, Chico, Calif., December 5, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

1st Sgt. Christopher D. Coffin, 51, Bethlehem ,Pa. ,July 1, 2003 , on Highway 8, Iraq

Cpl. Gary B. Coleman, 24, Pikeville, Ky., November 21, 2003, Balad, Iraq

2nd Lt. Benjamin J. Colgan, 30, Kent, Wash., November 1, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Gary L. Collins, 32, Hardin, Texas, November 8, 2003, Fallujah, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Lawrence S. Colton, 32, Oklahoma City, Okla., April 11, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Zeferino E. Colunga, 20, Bellville, Texas, August 6, 2003, Homburg, Germany

Sgt. Timothy M. Conneway, 22, Enterprise, Ala., June 28, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Steven D. Conover, 21, Wilmington, Ohio, November 2, 2003, Al Fallujah, Iraq

Command Sgt. Major Eric F. Cooke, 43, Scottsdale, Ariz., December 24, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Dennis A. Corral, 33, Kearney, Neb., January 1, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Alexander S. Coulter, 35, Tenn., November 17, 2003, Baqubah, Iraq

2nd Lt. Leonard M. Cowherd, 22, Culpeper, Va., May 17, 2004, Karbala, Iraq

Sgt. Michael T. Crockett, 27, Soperton, Ga., July 14, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Ricky L. Crockett, 37, Broxton, Ga., January 12, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Brud J. Cronkrite, 22, Spring Valley, Calif., May 14, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Pvt. Rey D. Cuervo, 24, Laguna Vista, Texas, December 28, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Daniel Francis J. Cunningham, 33, Lewiston, Maine, April 4, 2003, Iraq

Spc. Carl F. Curran, 22, Union City, Penn., May 16, 2004, Al Karmah, Iraq

Cpl. Michael E. Curtin, 23, Howell, N.J., March 29, 2003, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Christopher E. Cutchall, 30, McConnellsburg, Pa., September 29, 2003, west of Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. Anthony D. Dagostino, 20, Waterbury, Conn., November 2, 2003, Al Fallujah, Iraq

Capt. Nathan S. Dalley, 27, Kaysville, Utah, November 17, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. Norman Darling, 29, Middleboro, Mass., April 29, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Pvt. Brandon L. Davis, 20, Cumberland, Md., March 31, 2004, Habbaniyah, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Craig Davis, 37, Opelousas, La., January 8, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq

Spc. Raphael S. Davis, 24, Tutwiler, Miss., December 2, 2003, Tampa, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Wilbert Davis, 40, Alaska, April 3, 2003, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Jeffrey F. Dayton, 27, Caledonia, Miss., April 29, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Pvt. Jason L. Deibler, 20, Coeburn, Va., May 4, 2003, Kuwait

Sgt. Felix M. Delgreco, 22, Simsbury, Conn., April 9, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Darryl T. Dent, 21, Washington, D.C., August 26, 2003, Southeast Arimadi, Iraq

Pfc. Ervin Dervishi, 21, Fort Worth, Texas, January 24, 2004, Baji, Iraq

Pfc. Michael R. Deuel, 21, Nemo, S.D., June 18, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Pvt. Michael J. Deutsch, 21, Dubuque, Iowa, July 31, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Jeremiah J. Digiovanni, 21, Tylertown, Mass., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Spc. Michael A. Diraimondo, 22, Simi Valley, Calif., January 8, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq

Sgt. Michael E. Dooley, 23, Pulaski, Va., June 8, 2003, Al Asad, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW3) Patrick Dorff, 32, January 25, 2004, Mosul, Iraq

Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, Cleveland, Ohio, March 23, 2003, Iraq

Pvt. Jeremy L. Drexler, 23, Topeka, Kan., May 2, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Joe L. Dunigan Jr., 37, Belton, Texas, March 11, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW3) Brian K. Van Dusen, 39, Columbus, Ohio, May 9, 2003, Sammarah, Iraq

Spc. William D. Dusenbery, 30, Fairview Heights, Ill., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

2nd Lt. Seth J. Dvorin, 24, N.J., February 3, 2004, Iskandariyah, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Richard S. Eaton, Jr., 37, Guilford, Conn., August 12, 2003, Ar Ramadi, Iraq

Sgt. William C. Eckhart, 25, Rocksprings, Texas, April 10, 2004, Iraq

Spec. Marshall L. Edgerton, 27, Rocky Face, Ga., December 11, 2003, Ar Ramadi, Iraq

Pfc. Shawn C. Edwards, 20, Bensenville, Ill., April 23, 2004, Samarra, Iraq

Spc. Peter G. Enos, 24, South Dartmouth, Mass., April 9, 2004, Bayji, Iraq

Sgt. Adam W. Estep, 23, Campbell, Calif., April 29, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, El Paso, Texas, March 23, 2003, Iraq

Pvt. David Evans, Jr., 18, Buffalo, N.Y., May 25, 2003, Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq

Pfc. Jeremy Ricardo Ewing, 22, Miami, Fla., April 29, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Pvt. Jonathan I. Falaniko, 20, America Samoa (Pago Pago), October 27, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Capt. Brian R. Faunce, 28, Philadelphia, Pa., September 18, 2003, Al Asad, Iraq

Capt. Arthur L. Felder, 36, Louisville, Ark., April 24, 2004, Taji, Iraq

Spc. Tyanna S. Felder, 22, Bridgeport, Conn., April 7, 2004, Balad, Iraq

Spc. Rian C. Ferguson, 22, Taylors, S.C., December 14, 2003, outside forward operating base Quinn, Iraq

Master Sgt. Richard L. Ferguson, 45, Conway, N.H., March 30, 2004, Somara, Iraq

Master Sgt. George A. Fernandez, 36, El Paso, Texas, April 2, 2003, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Clint D. Ferrin, 31, Picayune, Miss., March 13, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Jon P. Fettig, 30, Dickinson, N.D., July 22, 2003, outside Ar Ramadi, Iraq

Sgt. Paul F. Fisher, 39, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, November 6, 2003, Homburg University Klinikum, Homberg, Germany

Pfc. Jacob S. Fletcher, 28, Bay Shore, N.Y., November 13, 2003, Samara, Iraq

Spc. Thomas A. Foley III, 23, Dresden, Tenn., April 14, 2003, Iraq

Spc. Jason C. Ford, 21, Bowie, Md., March 13, 2004, Tikrit, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW3) Wesley C. Fortenberry, 38, Woodville, Texas, April 11, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. 1st Class Bradley C. Fox, 34, Orlando, Fla., April 20, 2004, Landstuhl, Germany

Staff Sgt. Bobby C. Franklin, 38, Mineral Bluff, Ga., August 20, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. Robert L. Frantz, 19, San Antonio, Texas, June 17, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Luke P. Frist, 20, West Lafayette, Ind., January 5, 2004, Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas

Pvt. Benjamin L. Freeman, 19, Valdosta, Ga., October 13, 2003, Al Asad, Iraq

Sgt. David T. Friedrich, 26, Hammond, N.Y., September 20, 2003, Abu Gareeb, Iraq

Pvt. Kurt R. Frosheiser, 22, Des Moines, Iowa, November 8, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Pfc. Nicole M. Frye, 19, Lena, Wis. February 16, 2004, Baqubah, Iraq

Sgt. 1st Class Dan Henry Gabrielson, 39, Spooner, Wis., July 9, 2003, Ba Qubah, Iraq

Sgt. Landis W. Garrison, 23, Rapids City, Ill., April 29, 2004, Abu Gharb, Iraq

Sgt. Justin W. Garvey, 23, Townsend ,Mass. ,July 20 2003 ,Tallifar ,Iraq

Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Garyantes, 34, Rehoboth, Del., May 18, 2004, Muqdadiyah, Iraq

Spc. Israel Garza, 25, of Lubbock, Texas, April 4, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

1st Sgt. Joe J. Garza, 43, Robstown, Texas, April 28, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Christopher D. Gelineau, 23 Portland, Maine, April 20, 2004, Mosul, Iraq

Pvt. Kyle C. Gilbert, 20, Brattleboro, Vt., August 6, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Command Sergeant Major Cornell W. Gilmore I, 45, Baltimore, Md., November 7, 2003, Tikrit, Iraq

Pfc. Jesse A. Givens, 34, Springfield, Mo., May 1, 2003, Al Habbaniyah, Iraq

Spc. Michael T. Gleason, 25, Warren, Pa., May 30, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Spc. Christopher A. Golby, 26, Johnstown, Penn., January 8, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq

Spc. David J. Goldberg, 20, Layton, Utah, November 26, 2003, Qayyarah, Iraq

Pfc. Gregory Ronald Goodrich, 37, Bartonville, Ill., April 9, 2004, Iraq

Sgt. 1st Class Richard S. Gottfried, 42, Lake Ozark, Mo., March 9, 2004, Tampa, Iraq

Spc. Richard A. Goward, 32, Midland, Mich., April 14, 2003, Iraq

2nd Lt. Jeffrey C. Graham, 24, Elizabethtown, Ky., February 19, 2004, Khalidiyah, Iraq

Spc. Kyle A. Griffin, 20, Emerson, N.J., May 30, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Cpl. Sean R. Grilley, 24, San Bernardino, Calif., October 16, 2003, Karbala, Iraq

Pvt. Joseph R. Guerrera, 20, Dunn, N.C., October 26, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Hans N. Gukeisen, 31, Lead, S.D., May 9, 2003, Sammarah, Iraq

Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, 21, Houston, Texas, October 1, 2003, Tikrit, Iraq

Pfc. Richard W. Hafer, 21, Cross Lanes, W.Va., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Spc. Charles G. Haight, 23, Jacksonville, Ala., December 26, 2003, Iraq

Pvt. Jesse M. Halling, 19, Indianapolis, Ind., June 7, 2003, Tikrit, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer (CW4) Erik A. Halvorsen, 40, Bennington, Vt., April 2, 2003, Iraq

Capt. Kimberly N. Hampton, 27, Easley, S.C., January 2, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq

Sgt. Michael S. Hancock, 29, Yreka, Calif., October 24, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Sgt. Warren S. Hansen, 36, Clintonville, Wis., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Sgt. James W. Harlan, 44, Owensboro, Ky., May 14, 2004, Camp Anaconda, Iraq

Sgt. Atanacio Haromarin, 27, Baldwin Park, Calif., June 3, 2003, south of Balad, Iraq

Sgt. Kenneth W. Harris, Jr., 23, Charlotte, Tenn., August, 20, 2003, Scania, Iraq

Pfc. Leroy Harris-Kelly, 20, Azusa, Calif, April 20, 2004, north of Tallil, Iraq

Pfc. John D. Hart, 20, Bedford, Mass., October 18, 2003, Taza, Iraq

Sgt. Nathaniel Hart Jr., 29, Valdosta, Ga., July 28, 2003, Tillil, Iraq

Sgt. Jonathan N. Hartman, 27, Jacksonville, Fla., April 17, 2004, Dwaniyan, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Stephen C. Hattamer, 43, Gwinn, Mich., December 25, 3003, Baquba, Iraq

Pfc. Sheldon R. Hawk Eagle, 21, Grand Forks, N.D., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Sgt. Timothy L. Hayslett, 26, Newville, Pa., November 15, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Justin W. Hebert, 20, Arlington, Wash., August 1, 2003, Kirkuk, Iraq

Pfc. Damian L. Heidelberg, 21, Batesville, Mass., November 15, 2003, Mosul, Iraq

Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, Bay Shore, N. Y., July 24, 2003, north of Al Hawd, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Brian R. Hellerman, 35, Freeport, Minn., August 6, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Terry W. Hemingway, 39, Willingboro, N.J., April 10, 2003, Iraq

1st Lt. Robert L. Henderson, II, 33, Alvaton, Ky., April 17, 2004, Diwaniyah, Iraq

Staff Sgt. Kenneth W. Hendrickson, 41, Bismarck, N.D., January 24, 2004, north of Fallujah, Iraq

Pfc. Clayton W. Henson, 20, Stanton, Texas, April 17, 2004, Dwaniyan, Iraq

Pfc . Edward J. Herrgott, 20, Shakopee, Minnesota, July 3, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq

Spc. Jacob R. Herring, 21, Kirkland, Wash., April 28, 2004, Mosul, Iraq

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory B. Hicks, 35, Duff, Tenn., January 8, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq

Spc. Christopher K. Hill, 26, Ventura, Calif., March 11, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq

Spc. Stephen D. Hiller, 25, of Opelika, Ala., April 4, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq

Sgt. Keicia Melia Hines, 27, Citrus Heights, Calif.,January 14, 2004, Mosul, Iraq